OCTOBER FULL MOON NAMESOctober’s Moon rises just after sunset and sets around sunrise, so this is the only night in the month when the Moon is in the sky all night long.

Some Native American tribes referred to October’s Moon as the Full Hunter’s Moon, as it was the time to go hunting in preparation for winter. This full Moon is also called the “Travel Moon” and the “Dying Grass Moon.

HARVEST MOON 2017This year, the October Full Moon is also a Harvest Moon! That’s because it’s the full Moon closest to the Northern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox.

Around the Harvest Moon, the moonrise happens soon after sunset for several evenings in a row, which traditionally allowed farmers to have much more light to finish their harvest!

We hear a lot of talk about the negative effects that the full moon has on fishing so I thought I would use that as a good excuse to take a day off work and do a little fishing to see if there is any merit to the full moon theory. Tonight the moon will be in the sky all night long and tomorrow I will be fishing. I'm rolling the dice here and we will see what happens. I'll post the conclusion of my experiment tomorrow night.

On my way to the river today I was asking myself what would a fish most likely do during a full moon night. My answer to myself was that fish not being the smartest creatures in the world would probably just stare up at the moon all night. So on one rod went a Zara Puppy and on another rod went a Case Magic Stick Worm. Here are some pictures of the results.

These are a few of the 20 + fish caught today using the Zara Puppy. My conclusion to the full moon experiment is the moon has little if any effect on the fish bite. The only thing I noticed different today is the fish were on the smaller side but I think it wasn't an ugly enough day to turn on the big fish. It was one of the best top water days I had this year. Many fish missed the puppy as many as three times before they gave up on catching it. When they missed the puppy three times I would throw a Case Magic Stick Worm to them and they would hammer it before it hit bottom. I got ten on the Magic Sticks. What a great post full moon day! Don't let the moon keep you from fishing.

Great Post RA,thanks for sharing your results.I too luv the Zarra Puppies.I have had smallies come from 20' Deep on Cannonsville dam to crush those puppies this time of the year.Great day on the water for you.I luv those doubles.

Mr. Moon was out full and bright this morning when I headed to the river. Here are some of the fish that didn't care. The bite was good and the fish were larger today until the sun came out and the sky turned blue. Twenty five in three hours.

I had absolutely no luck from 530 till almost 7. Right before 7 I caught and landed my first smb. Then till 730 I had 6 total. The last 1 being the largest, I hung it up. Soccer tournament tomorrow morning, and I have to leave the house by 7. im not a morning person, so I wasn't going to push it.

I went out after the rain stopped this morning hoping to get into some more top water action. Well the wind put one heck of a chop on the water and a stop to top water but they were all over Cabin Creek Jr Tubes crawling slowly along the bottom.

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Susquehanna River Fishing Forum

Thanks for the report and the pics. I don't know where you were fishing but Harry and me are planning on going to Columbia on Tuesday. I've never seen anything like that Magic Stick. Hope we can duplicate your results with whatever is in our arsenal.

I've always been of the opinion that the new and full moons, including a few days immediately before and after them, were the very best moon times to fish. The major exception to that being that that catfishing seems to suffer when the moonrise strikes the water on a clear night. On very cloudy full moon nights the cats seem to coutinue feeding normally.FM

I agree with FM but then I very seldom have any difficulty catching fish no matter what moon phase or time of the year. I do disagree with dretallack though about the water temperature. Low and warm water puts a lot of stress on the fish. As the water temps start to cool down into the 50's the bite will really heat up. Then your going to catch the big fish that everyone is always hoping to catch. You will see some really nice fish being posted on this board during the winter months. I can't wait because that is a special time of year to fish.